Builds Cruisermatt's FJ62 Build-up (5 Viewers)

[cruisermatt]

I’ll post up some detailed driving impressions and the various fixes for the big immediate issues that have arose in a few days. A lot to write up.
For now, here’s a picture of the rear hub studs I just broke. I’m
actually kinda happy about that
Time for 7/16” ARP bolts front and rear.

 

[White Stripe]

Glad u got it on the road. That's a lot of work u did. Looks like your having fun with it!

 

[Hojack]

Did those hub studs just break since you got it running?

 

[cruisermatt]

Did those hub studs just break since you got it running?

Yup popped em on the way to the store to pick up beer. Lol.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Get the kinks out now before your on a trail. Thanks for all your help... got a handful of 45's cut and now under the truck pondering layout of where to dump the tailpipe.

 

[cruisermatt]

Glad u got it on the road. That's a lot of work u did. Looks like your having fun with it!

Yup. I need to take a break from it for a few days but I’m glad to drive it.
I’ll do a more detailed write up in a few hours of my driving impressions and my thoughts on my changes to each system, and my immediate fixes I did. There will be some good tech.

 

[cruisermatt]

Ok... where should we start. The first big immediate issue was that it was almost completely undrivable. No rear shocks, super hard to shift transmission, and stalling every time I hit the brakes.
Cheapo F350 rear shocks, a VSS, and a few more sledgehammer smacks where the clutch fork was hitting the floor pan fixed those issues.

I just threw some cheap shocks from the corner store on, they were $25 each and had eyelets on both ends and I was able to get them same day. They are way too soft and not long enough and will get replaced with a high-performance off-road shock soon enough.

 

[Hojack]

Is the NV4500 hard to shift through all gears or just certain ones?

 

[cruisermatt]

Next up was a VSS. Forget spending $300 on the JTR transfer case setup, with the manual transmission the PCM just needs to know whether the rig is moving or not.

Fortunately I’ve had an FZJ80 rear axle installed for a few years now. That has an unused ABS tone ring and wheel speed sensor. Both the GM VSS and Toyota VSS utilize sine wave signals.
(Well, the wheel speed sensor has gotten crunched by a rock at some point but I have a stack of 80 rear axles in the back yard and one of those had a good sensor and harness. )

A quick call to my harness manufacturer (PSI, who are awesome by the way) and a quick look at a Toyota schematic to figure out which wires were signal and ground on both ends and I was set.

No more stalling issues. None. And it was BAD before. So, I’m really happy about this.
Ignore the untrimmed zipties

 

[cruisermatt]

Is the NV4500 hard to shift through all gears or just certain ones?

They are usually pretty notchy in general, I rebuilt mine with all new bearings and syncros late last year so it’s pretty good. I had a clutch issue though, my clutch fork was hitting the floor pan preventing full engagement.

I have a new slave to install and I’m going to drill a hole in the clutch pedal to change the master cylinder ratio so I think I can get just a bit more performance out of it. I think the Chevy pressure plate is right at the limit of the Cruiser master/slave.

 

[cruisermatt]

Since the driveshaft that showed up in the mail yesterday ended up being wrong bang I decided to use the week that it will take for the correct ton to get here to fix a bunch of issues that are preventing me from daily driving this thing.

First up, the diff started leaking oil from where it bolts to the housing really badly.
Also, as previously mentioned I popped some rear hub studs on a, shall we say spirited, test drive. So I modified that for 7/16” ARP bolts like I’ve been meaning to do for a long time now.
I set up a jig to do this and have done a few sets for local Cruiserheads with good success.
Sure, guys have done it with a cordless drill, but it’s better that stuff is straight and true when going +80mph on the highway.

All done. These bolts get torqued to 70 ft-lbs. WAAAAY more strength and no more stupid cone washers. Three more hubs to go.. plus two more for a spare front and rear.

 

[cruisermatt]

Cooling system is working great, pretty much stays right at 190, jumps up to 193-195 if I’m really stepping on it. And I’ve been driving it in the middle of the day, when its 90-degrees out.

But you can’t cool a V8 swap with electric fans yada yada yada...

Stock radiator, Contour fans, $70 for the (new!) fans and $5 for the can of black spray paint I used to “rebuild” my radiator.

 

[cruisermatt]

Suspension is flexy as hell, it really needs a front sway bar and stiffer rear shocks, but it rides awesome. Nice and plush.

It has way more in it then this, but the front tire was starting to get into the fender and it started dumping gas out of one of the tank vent lines. Some minor front sheetmetal trimming is required. Or I may just set the bump stops here. The driver’s side only has maybe 2” more uptravel and with what I really want to use the truck for I may not miss it. Need to think about it before cutting up the fresh passenger fender I just installed.

 

[cruisermatt]

More stuff fixed on the truck.
My rear transfer case output was kinda loose so I pulled it off and threw another shim in there.

I also finally got around to swapping my passenger rear door that was completely caved in. Only took me a year since getting my hands on the replacement door. I still need to swap my manual window regulator in.
These are also good comparisons of before and after I moved the rear axle back a notch on the spring perch. Much better now.

 

[BMValentine]

That rear axle looks a lot better moved back. Your cruiser is really coming along, looks good.

 

[Hojack]

Did you remove the inside C-Channel from inside of the frame and box it in for rear SOA conversion?

 

[cruisermatt]

I boxed the frame but I didn’t remove the original C-channel.
Lots of work

 

[cruisermatt]

Couple pics to show the stance since I don’t think I really put any good ones up.
The wheelbase stretch in the front with the bigger opening makes it look kinda funny from the front. It sits pretty much level, maybe 1/4” lower in the rear depending on the surface I’m parked on. I’m considering putting air bags back there though so I can play with it a little. Also to help with the body roll at high speeds.

The power is just stupid awesome. Should have done this years ago. Now it’s just a matter of making the rest of the truck work well around the motor
Also the mystery origin/mileage FZJ80 fuel pump died on Saturday. New Desnso unit going in on Wednesday I think.

 

[Hojack]

It looks great Matt. The front wheel would look better moved back about 2” IMO. Rear looks great and air bags would be a great addition. Have them on my dodge 3500 dually. I can’t wait to drive mine and see it’s quirks to work out.

 

[cruisermatt]

Thanks. I'm looking into Jeep YJ springs for the front which are about 3" shorter overall then the 60 rears so I can have a shorter shackle up front, these are really too long. That would move my front axle back about an inch, and although I really like it where it is, one inch back won't really take away from the massive approach angle improvement I made.

Oh, I'm also pleased to report the truck drives nice and straight with no steering wander or vibration at +100mph.